here with r.t. the main stories we're covering for you this hour russia holds its breath for the final part of ensure the actual results of the ruling united russia party losing its overall majority but still coming out one on top. iran claims to have shot down a u.s. spy drone along its eastern border the use of unmanned american aircraft over the country is being seen as the latest evidence of washington's efforts to destabilize regimes don't see. russia as concerned over u.s.

plans to build military bases in afghanistan spite the plan twenty four thousand withdrawal that's just before a conference where the international community is set to decide the country's future. as international pressure mounts on syria ati's either bennett talks to author and journalist jonathan steele for his take on the possible solution to the country's political crisis. i'm joined by jonathan steele former chief correspondent of the guardian newspaper and now commentator on international affairs jonathan thanks for speaking to r.t. now the case recently been approached by the king of jordan to spearhead a diplomatic offensive against assad william hague the foreign secretary is now met with opposition leaders is this the preamble to another libyan style intervention. it could be i mean we can't be sure and i think it's dangerous it might be i mean they're trying to be hague's message to the opposition is to get your act together

unite on a common platform in other words to turn yourself much more like the libyan opposition who the government also talked to and then eventually recognized as the official government of libya so i think it is the first stage to trying to recognize the opposition. there are hints more from france than from britain at the moment that there would be some kind of foreign intervention i mean the french foreign minister and i should pay has just called for humanitarian corridors to be opened into syria with or without the syrian government's permission and damascus when he was asked does that mean who would protect these corridors would that be military protection he said of course so in other words they are thinking of having a limited number of foreign military people moving into syria perhaps against the will of the government of damascus what must the opposition now do to gain recognition has there militarization made it easier to achieve that well i think the unity thing which was going on about is what they want they want to sort of

feel as united platform so they know who they're dealing with they don't want a lot of different competing groups but the question is what will the platform be is it going to be a very hardline platform that keeps repeating that asset must go or will be a platform that says we need dialogue and and a transition which is peaceful programmers and civil war an armed struggle like in libya so that's very important. the the other thing is is whether they will try the tactic of saying we have to protect civilians you know the benghazi syndrome if they could save the city of hama. needs protection. you know and then they could have a no fly zone over that city and then they again it's the thin end of the wedge which would move out to becoming full scale support for. civil war the trouble is of course that hama and homs the two cities that have the most fighting are not on the sea plane goes it was on the coast in libya that made it much easier to have

a no fly zone and then to start bringing in ships bringing in weapons and supplies and all the rest of it more difficult in syria unless they nominate one of the coastal cities or the mediterranean and the safe zone but it's a bit unlikely at the moment because those cities been relatively quiet in this uprising the arab league's already suspended syria and recently issued that three deals made and that's now passed these attempts were portrayed as last ditch a tense that conventional diplomacy but could they not do more to mediate isn't that their role. yes i mean they very keep saying that assad should have dialogue with the opposition but the opposition including the people that hague was meeting in london this week. are against dundalk they just simply say assad must go and that's also the line of the british government of the french government and the u.s. government i mean they should be putting the same pressure on the opposition to enter a dialogue as they're putting on the government in damascus i mean it's ridiculous

to say one side will start talking who's going to talk to if the other side refuses they seem to be siding with the sounds opponents they want why do you think that is well i think they've decided that. it's a lost cause in the sense that they don't like his links to hezbollah in lebanon they don't like the fact that he is sort of in the front line of. opposition to israel you know jordan and egypt have their treaties with with syria's the only country with a sort of long border with israel it is not sort of peace at the moment and so they don't like that and of course syria has quite good relations with iran. so they've decided i think that it's almost like a proxy war against iran if you can topple assad it's like it's considered to be a sort of proxy of blow against the government in iran so it is the fear of iran really outweigh any concern of syria descending into civil war well i'm not even

sure it's fear you know are they really afraid of iran i think it's more that they want to undermine the regime in iran and i think i think it's hostility to iran i would say rather than fear of because what is there to be afraid of with iran you know the only thing is this question of nuclear weapons which is still a long way down the line before iran would have a deliverable nuclear weapon it's first got to create the warheads on the weapons if it's building them and then it's got to have the delivery system that could transport these things safely and you know drop them. position and father at the right target which is some way off so there's no reason to be really afraid of iran and anyway there are other ways of dealing with the so-called iranian threat the military you know where they could be some plant plenty of diplomatic ways of minimizing whatever. worries you you have about iran surely the arab league and western countries have some sort of duty here to to prevent syria from slipping

into a full blown civil war me it's not the first time middle eastern country with a complex religious and ethnic makeup has has descended into civil war have lessons not been learned well i agree with you i mean i think i think it's quite irresponsible i mean and it's really amazing in a way that these are neighbors of syria and the other members of the arab league are taking such a hard line but i think it's this cancer of the sunni shia thing which is as i said proxy war between the gulf arabs are mainly sunni against the iranian regime which is causing the cancer and i'm afraid it's been united states have been pushing this line is the threat of danger we must be afraid of it and we saw a lot of it in iraq of course the sunni shia thing of that created a near civil war in iraq it's terribly dangerous and one would have thought of course in lebanon also earlier one would have thought that people would say look the last thing we want is another sunni versus shia military civil war going on in

one of the major arab countries they should be doing all they can to try and stop it no i'm saying that assad has made many many mistakes he should have not used for so much at the beginning he should have offered more serious dialogue at the beginning his office but quite flimsy and probably deceptive deliberately and you know he has been very hardline but the other side is now being equally hardline in the situation is becoming polarized what's the worst case scenario should syria completely collapse into civil war well the worst case scenario is massive. snick cleansing with the i lowered majority from whom the assad family comes from the ruling elite being forced to flee the christians who brought least ten percent of the population possibly more in syria are very worried very probably most of them as one understands prefer the assad regime which has been very tolerant to christianity no problem with any kind of religious discrimination and they're more

worried about the muslim brotherhood who are the main force in the opposition the armed opposition to to than they are and they are said to christians could suffer greatly look what's happened to iraqi christians most of them have had to flee the kurds are in a sort of wobbly position they don't care which side is worse for them is assad worse than the possible sunni arab muslim brotherhood coming in. so i think a lot of the minorities are really worried and i think that's partly why there are these big demonstrations in support of assad in damascus and aleppo they're not all people have been sort of forced out into the streets in some way or other some of them a genuine i think i do obviously we can't do this sort of exact analysis of how many and genuine and how many have come out because they might be government workers who think that they can lose their jobs if they don't come out but. you can't get so many people out on the street without some of them being genuine on the other hand the prison as sad as certainly committed some terrible atrocities against his own

people is that initial crackdown not to blame for the current situation well i think that's why you need mediation i mean assad has made terrible mistakes and a lot of people have been killed by the scourge of forces and obviously the families and friends of those people you know if you explain your anger and they just want to disappear. so you can see why it's difficult but that's why you need mediation faster just to invite people say come to my office and we'll sit down and we'll talk about things it may be too late for that because there's so much suspicion so that's why the arab league ideally should. the mediators coming in and meeting each side separately pabst initially said what are you willing to give concessions to bloat and find a compromise and learn some point everybody comes into the room together but may need outside mediation ideally by the arab league if not by the united nations but i think one of the things that should be on the table is immunity for us certain he's not going to give up power peacefully when he sees what's happened to mubarak

put in prison or house arrest in his case hospital arrest because he still trial or the gadhafi precedent which used to be lynched in the street on you tube. you know that's not so you need immunity and actually we've got a very good model in yemen they've agreed to signed a deal which the arabs brokered the saudi arabians brokered whereby president saleh has now given up power in return for immunity for his family and himself under transition to new elections within the next few months both parliament and for president is very good model now why can't the saudis who did that with yemen do the same thing for syria what have countries like the u.k. france america got to gain with syria here there's no oil wealth is it purely location or is the iran question is the ante raney and thing and the feeling that the. unreliable on the israeli question. that he's sort of

they've had intermittent talks with assad but. they've never reached a peace agreement is not just because the israeli line is also very are hotter and so both sides of where they found it impossible to agree does the international community genuinely not see then the dangers of civil war in syria or is that merely outweighed by the need for influence an intervention in syria well i think very problematic cynical very look at libya we don't know exactly how many people were killed in libya. people say thirty thousand people died six months or so that it took to topple gadhafi well they're sort of saying well. that's worth it if you can bring in a different regime which will be obviously more progress than at least initially if it's had western support to topple the regime jonathan steele thank you.

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well. it's technology innovation is developments around russia we've got the future. holds its breath for the final parliamentary election results for the ruling united russia party losing its overall majority but still coming out well on top. iran claims to have shot down a u.s. spy drone along its eastern border the use of unmanned american aircraft over the country is being seen as an interest evidence of washington's efforts to destabilize regimes beyond its influence. russia expressed his concerns over u.s. plans to build military bases in afghanistan even after the planned to twenty thousand withdrawal that's as a conference opens today where the international community is set to decide the country's future. sports update now with.

nice to have you company and these are the headlines sweet victory tiger woods wins the chevron world challenge to end two year title drought. plus fans pay tribute to brazil for boy legend socrates he died at the age of fifty seven. and we did that while the crowds in moscow when snowball came to travis rice but with his latest failed to the russian capital. the first goal former world number one tiger woods has won his first title for over two years taking the chevron world challenge in california by a single shot from fellow americans that johnson words haven't won since the b.m.w. championship in two thousand and nine that was followed by personal abuse on the force from his wife before he got back to winning ways he was trying to intimate to

house the guy but their money back to back birdies when it mattered this is the crucial one on the last how a great approach setting them up for the winning which goes on to say and the relief was obvious finishing on ten on the part of the johnson by a single shot would stifle drive. and he says he's grandstand finish was as good as he gets. i know it's been a while but also for some reason it feels like it it hasn't because when i was coming down the stretch there if i felt so comfortable. i felt comfortable and i was i took off for what augusta you know when i put myself there in his positions. it is discomfort as far as making the part and the feeling afterwards. it was. you know i think i will scream and something but it was just one the golf

tournament pulled it off with one down with two to go on. to go birdie birdie as good as it gets. and we're still in the states because the green bay packers have reached the n.f.l. playoffs they beat the new york giants thirty eight points to thirty five for the last minute field goal to remain undefeated the giants were hosting the packers that they met life stadium on the back of three straight defeats and were trailing twenty one seventeen by halftime of the aaron rodgers found on driver here in the back of the end zone but they kill themselves in it and by the fourth quarter the game still hung in the balance rogers again found driver to give the packers a thirty four twenty seven lead however eli manning hit bang for the giants connecting with the knicks to bring them back to the last couple of points and then they were level when t.j. where ran for a two point conversion. but rogers are made sure the past is not their twelfth win

from twelve games is parks it's a chilling nelson setting up a last minute field goal. and one step mason crosby to convert it to give the pack is a thirty eight thirty five victory and a place in the playoffs. eleven years the world of football is paying respects to former brazil captain midfield legend socrates he died in hospital in san paolo age fifty seven following a short illness the former corinthians player had been in a critical condition with an intestinal infection since friday that he also been in hospital in august and september with internal bleeding widely regarded as one of the greatest ever midfielders socrates only turned professional when he was twenty five but went on to play in two world cups winning sixty caps for his country between one hundred seventy nine and nine hundred eighty six and scoring twenty two goals in a glittering career while that career was given a fitting tribute by fans of his former club corinthians won the brazilian

championship for a fifth time on sunday with a goal or straw against problem areas and a minute's silence turned into a vocal tribute for the man before kick off of the game the followed was a bad tempered affair. full price were sent off to from each side but it didn't stop greenpeace getting the point their. national title since two thousand and five . meanwhile boca juniors have won the argentina particular title win over banfield given the way we used to be in the scoring twice in the first a bit scrappy but he's pretty sharp again in the box to get the second and then there was a wonder strike india go to bed after the break which made sure the victory. and impromptu lap of honor followed by some of the booker prize ninety the gulf right. now the top two sides in indian premier league have been drawn together in the f.a.

cup matches the city. will play in the mouth watering third round tie united boss sir alex ferguson again locking horns with city's or man cheney the game is at city stadium in january the seventh united lost six one to city in the league in october i'm an old die by them in the f.a. cup semifinals last year well it's one of the premier league title which will see newcastle host blackpool another ties that have been drawn and cleaned against forced to challenge chant on the. welcome championship side leeds chelsea are up against portsmouth and liverpool will play the winner at the reply between the south and oldham a little travelling to for them tonight in the premier league a win would put kenny dalglish's side level on points with fifth place arsenal and the class full of data when to edge him selves away from the drop. last night robert who scored the fifteenth minute winner started beat every time one will to get a victory goodison park for thirty years and just scored a late second half price is wolves four points clear of the drop side but if she

went home to sunday's. telling on the dow fought back from a set down to beat one martin del potro in a thrilling four set. match to seal spain's fifth davis cup title in eleven years now will dive into the limpid arena in seville knowing victory would hand his country their third fed cup triumph in four years but that seemed to inspire his opponent at the beginning at least. racing through the first set six one. but now down did eventually find his rhythm and he won the second set six four to tie the match some thumping forehands to. the end was just too powerful for del potro. i. found nothing on one that six one. i think you

know the also went to a tiebreaker. that dropping a point it's spain's fifth fed cup trophy and the dow has played its part in that to winning twenty fed cup single matches in a row. the news russia volleyball coach. no says he's the happiest man on earth after his charges in japan to lift the prestigious world cup on his forty fifth birthday there was a back and forth or in tokyo going all the way to the fifth set with russia eventually prevailing to claim a second piece of silverware this season. had also led them to the world league title in july both russia and poland prosperous will have qualified for next summer's london olympics. and winter sports three time former overall champion alexander zuckoff is ladies four man bobsled team to victory in the first world cup race of the season in austria company could have done better in the second heat

after training america's first thing but russia's first run had given them an edge of nine hundred eleven second which was good enough to give them the aggregate victory ahead of the us germany completed the podium in the ski resort of. russia's second tape where for fastest on the. lam with some spectacular snowboarding pictures x. games champion travis rice has been in moscow to promote a film that's captured breathtaking images of the sport and has attracted the attention of thousands of fans in the russian capital with more. wyoming native travis rice has won two christy just eggs games gold medals in his career and numerous other titles inventing new snowboarding moves in the process but his true passion lies in filmmaking with his latest movie called the art of flight of making its final tour stop in moscow we were lucky enough to use some of

the most you know dynamic in cutting edge film equipment in the world along with. sound design from. steven spielberg's facility and california that is beautiful so you know this movie was meant to be seen on the big screen. created for blu ray about primarily shot it for the big screen that's why we're here. arsal flight concept was born three years ago following rice's directorial debut on an other cutting edge snowboarding film called that's it that's all the result of his work in partnership with brain form digital cinema and director kurt morgan are widely regarded as a new breed of action sports film for most people it's a unique opportunity to experience in high definition a one of a kind of adventure that sakes that you are through avalanches accidents and unexplored mountains in remote corners of the world trying to strike is obviously not alone in challenging mother nature and popularizing snowboarding as

a lifestyle helping him defy the odds and raise the bar on the quality of the video footage describing this breath taking pastime our crew of at least ten people including the star of countless snowboarding videos swiss enthusiastic nicholas miller. this failing us and then so much for other and then anything else before and everybody talks about it and it's beautiful i've been to huge premieres like here in moscow but also to the small shop screenings and everybody it's just the same stun fight it. just blown away but it has never snowboarding was basically nonexistent during the soviet period but it has now won over the hearts of millions of russia's youth at least two thousand people have turned up for the premiere of the art of flight in moscow's pushkin cinema and most seem to already be familiar with the concept as well as the stars of the film in

the book. three snowboarding is all about the writer souls and know about composition this is exactly what these guys have done with this film they sort of united themselves with nature and i don't think there will ever be better writing then was been demonstrated in this movie there was only one showing of the art of flight in moscow however it confirmed that the demand for adrenaline packs and masterfully edited footage is as high as ever in russia and the audience is already eager to experience what else travis rice or perhaps some other filmmaker will have to offer as their next snowboarding. artsy moscow. to take pictures and that is always both my main. question is that so much i can tell you is on the front of the market is the

taliban bad guys going for the exit after ten years of became conclusive war the united states and its allies are desperate to leave afghanistan by the end of two thousand.